Everyday Gamer

Every week for the past 130 weeks, The Escapist has delivered high-caliber content about videogames, videogamers and videogame culture. Over the past year we've expanded our scope to include articles about subjects not strictly related to videogames, but including such things as movies, comic books and music, cultural experiences compelling to those who are compelled by videogames.

Each week our new issues tackle another cultural issue central to these tenets, with five or more articles each exploring a single facet of such defining topics as storytelling, conventions, advertising and bad guys, just to name a few from the past twenty-six weeks.

Through all of these explorations, the voice of The Escapist has been defined by the professional writers and editors we hire to share their wisdom with us. Since its inception, The Escapist has worked with over 150 of the best known writers working in game journalism, or, in some cases, any media, including award-winning journalists, iconic game developers and fresh-faced freelancers on their way to making a name for themselves. For over two years, The Escapist's "E" has stood for quality writing, editing and art direction, and that isn't about to change any time soon.

And yet, a week into a brand-new year, it's important to re-evaluate and take a look at where we might be able to deliver something new and still achieve the same results. To that end, we bring you Issue 131, "Everyday Gamer."

When we first planned this issue, we had in mind something entirely different from what we're now publishing. And then it occurred to us: Who better to explore those issues than the gamers themselves? Why not cut out the middleman and let you, our readers, speak for yourselves? Seemed like a good idea to us, and we hope you agree.

This week, Jana Stocks takes us inside a close-knit circle of friends who've been sharing their lives, and games, for years; Tomohiko Endo describes his experiences of longing and self-loathing as a gamer who's forced to hide his passion; Jonathon McCalmont explores what it means to be a "gamer" in a culture that alienates even its own; Mark Patience wonders when his girlfriend is going to learn to share him with his hobby and Bob Harris shares the adventures of "Team Butts," a group of friends who are somehow always on the wrong side of multiplayer. Enjoy!